Nurse Jackie on Showtime

[nurseyo420]

I feel that there are many nurses getting their undies in a rut over this show Nurse Jackie. I find the show to be very throughly entertaining and I have even added it to my DVR rotation. Even though I dont agree with her cheating on her husband or taking drugs... I do love her bedside manner and how she is a champion for pt's rights. No one is mentioning how she gave one pt's daughter her cell phone number and free medications when her mother had lupus, no one is talking about the pt she let stay in the ER to finish his chicken noodle soup his wife brought in, or even how she set some doctor straight and wasnt afraid to stand up to him on giving better care to his pts.

C'mon people this isnt a documentary on nurses, its a dark comedy on life in the ER, without something to jazz it up the show would be... boring.

[hppygr8ful]

I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to watch the show - but it was 102 outside last weekend and I found myself watching the first episode. As a recovering alcoholic and a nurse I have learned not to make judgements prior to investigation. Ifound the character of Nurse Jackie to be engaging and very human. Not the drug snorting, out of control menace I had heard about. Drug use among nurses especially in the ER, ICU and other specialty areas is high as many as 15% of all nurses will have a substance abuse problem during their career, which means that all of us working know at least one nurse with a problem.

I am not saying that the show reflects positively on nursing in general but it does show an all too real portrait of something our profression tries to hide and sweep under the rug. Even though I never diverted from my facility (over 5 years ago) there are still nurses there who won't speak to me. (As if my disease was contagious). I think we all need to take a long hard look at this silent epidemic and how we as nurses support our fellows.

Peace and Namaste

Hppy

[Teeituptom]

, Lets see drug abuse, forgery, adultery, and whatever else. The show has no redeeming value except to provide jobs for actors and actresses and film type people jobs. So take it at face value only. That and 1 buck will get you a double cheeseburger at McDonalds

[nursinghumor]

Sandy Summers, RN has a website that does extensive reviews of the media, popular nursing tv shows and the portrayal of nurses in general.

Nurse Jackie, Reviewed,July 6, 2009:"Tonight's episode of Showtime's Nurse Jackie is yet another powerful showcase for Jackie's clinical virtuosity. The focus in several plotlines is not so much on Jackie's care for ED patients' immediate ailments as it is her holistic focus, how she expertly manages the larger family dynamics that have such a huge impact on health. Here she negotiates hospital rules to help a precocious 10-year-old continue to manage her mother's debilitating lupus. She also finds a creative way to advocate for a stroke victim, demonstrating to his obnoxious family that he's "still in there," even though he can't speak or move much of his body. At the same time, Jackie continues to mentor nursing student Zoey and new physician Coop, teaching the former about triage and the latter how to relate to the 10-year-old girl. The show even includes a quick but telling comment on patterned scrubs and the nursing image."
http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/

Interesting reading for sure.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com